idea to fly. why did they succeed where the other people failed? they understood the problem they were trying to solve much better than anyone else. at the end of the day, it is not about having ideas in the shower or lightning bolts of inspiration, it is about solving problems one step at a time. understanding the problem with a piece of her. with the rape others on their course, obviously led to them flying. >> tonight on c-span, we get to know more members of congress. starting with democrat brendan boyle of pennsylvania, followed by democrat ralph abraham of louisiana. then, brenda lawrence of michigan.

>> democratic congressman brendan boyle is the son of an irish-born father. we spoke with him about his views on government, serving constituents, and winning a tough election. this is 25 minutes. >> representative brendan boyle, pennsylvania, tell us one thing that has surprised you the most since you have been in washington. mr. boyle: unfortunately, not much has surprised me. i was a state legislature dass legislator before coming here. most of the things i was familiar with. it has pleasantly surprised me, contrary to everything in here generally, most members i have found get along hurting.

i know i am going against the grain is saying that. but i have relationships on both sides of the aisle. going to the membership gem, it helps not to be too partisan that there. i feel that if people actually saw more of their members of congress operating as colleagues and coworkers, they would probably feel better about the ss and to system we have. i think what translates to the wider world is the worst of the sides. >> that inc. said, what are your overall impressions of the way the town functions legislatively. mr. boyle: that the way the town functions, once you get into the capitol complex, you are here all day. you are here all day throughout the building's of the capitol complex, one thing after another.

before you know it, it is 10:00 or 10: 30 at night. we're trying to squeeze things in. that is one of the challenges, i wish i had more time here in washington dc d.c. i think that is the biggest challenge. >> you have been here several months. how did you learn your way around the building, the capital, and is down? mr. boyle: do you mean physically? every once in while, i am still turning left when i should be turning right. but generally, just by doing it. it is much larger than the state legislature where i was serving. the buildings the senate holdings, the capitol building itself is pretty remarkable to get to be here and to serve.

especially within an area that has such history. >> to your biography we read that you are the son of an immigrant janitor. you are the first in the family to attend college. what does all of that mean to you? tell us about how you got here and what it means to you and your family? >> it is an integral of the r.i.m. normalization relative term, so i would not know what it is like to grow up any other way. to me, that is the norm. most of us probably feel the same way about our experience. my mother's parents were immigrants. she grew up in philadelphia worked very hard to create opportunities for me and my benefit. we always had a roof over our head and food on our table, but certainly, by modern standards i

did not grow up which or middle-upper-middle-class. with that said, the most important things in my upbringing with the love and support of my parents and a firm belief if you work hard, get good grades, make sure you do you want you go out and play, that you will be able to accomplish a lot in life. i grew up with that optimism and belief that things were possible. in terms of how it affects me now as a legislator, or my views, i have to admit that even subconsciously, i see the justice of certain things through the lens of my dad and my mom as ordinary workers and hard-working folks who were attempting to do it right. i probably sometimes subconsciously look at issues through those eyes first before

i look at it from another. >> where did your parents come from? mr. boyle i -- my father came from ireland. >> as early as i can remember, i remember loving sports and politics. i remember being able to stay up late and listen to the results of the presidential election and pressing the teachers by reciting the electoral votes for different states. i was always fascinated by and loved politics. that did not necessarily mean i always wanted to do this as a candidate and public servant that kind of went back and forth as i was growing up. and i have always been interested. >> you are interested in sports

as well. where are the comparisons between politics and sports? >> the part of it where you either win or lose. an election get you more excited the and a super bowl, because of a team loses a super bowl, the creators and players are not necessarily over. they can come back the next season. the difference in politics who wins and loses an election has real-life consequences of determining public policy which obviously, sports does not have. it is far more serious and far more important. >> take us back to the democratic election. the other candidate was endorsed by bill clinton. you prevailed. and you do it? mr. boyle: i started out in

april. that is where the campaign kicked off for three of the four of us and then officially party candidate who is the front runner the following month. i remember a poster came back and said, i have good news and i have bad news. the good news is that out of four candidates, your second. the bad news is you are 32 points behind is in first place. it was a woman who happen to be related to the clintons, and chelsea clinton's mother-in-law. i knew the odds were against us, it was daunting. looking at it realistically, i thought you had a legitimate shot to rent if i worked incredibly hard, but the boat team together. i felt strongly if the message would resonate with voters in my area. i went to work up deep. people think that you only need money to run for office and

went. our campaign and victory is a great example that that is not the case. while yes, we needed to raise money, without our field grandma and grinder-to-door entering of a 200 five community events often only very small events and entertaining voters and taking questions, without that there is no question we would not have one. >> july to accomplish during your time here? mr. boyle: i am on the subcommittee, it is a boring committee. the world is flat piece, never any issues. but unfortunately, it is very exciting and very sobering. knowing the decision that one makes is going to have enormous

consequences. in addition, i am on the oversight and government reform committee which too often does tend to, unfortunately denigrate and it is sort of a partisan food fight. i guess you're nuts up to like one committee monthly and another but i admit i tend to like the foreign committee more than the other. unfortunately, it is the way of the committees are structured. the foreign affairs committee is much more bipartisan in its approach and attempt to solve the problem, whereas oversight and government reform tends to be about political scandals. axel merk insurgent the most? mr. boyle: ever since the great recession, by far the great deep. i would live these into the same

category as middle-class angst. i talked a minute ago about how i was brought up to believe if you work hard, play by the rules, you'll get ahead in life. i think a lot of the hard-working american middle class is really questioning that right now. there are a lot of who believe their children will actually have a worse outcome in life they and they had. that is contrary to the american dream and spirit. page fairness, quality education, the issue is the region fell into the same category of the feeling that the american system we belief and is not working. there is something broken that needs to be fixed. >> at you spoke about the dual roles of the congressman. and constituent work. how do you find the balance

between the two when you are going about your business? >> those are equally important. if we were having this discussion a dozen years ago or 15 years ago, i would have underappreciated the constituent service side. being a state legislator was important. they are equally important. hopefully i am voting and policy that is important. it similarly back in the district, helping a constituent with a critical issue, oftentimes when they walk into ufos that is not the first place they want to. often times it is the place of last resort. both are important. sometimes the legislative part of it can seem bogged down but you might have a blowout in. maybe just one person's life. i can't inc. of one elderly couple who received thousands of dollars in an accurate insurance

companies. incorrectly billed and it was a couple in their 80's no ability to pay the inaccurate charge. they broke down crying when we were able to fix it. those are the kind of really feel-good moments that do not necessarily happen every day on the legislative side. >> another large pieces bond raising. -- fund raising. mr. bello: let me be blunt and not very elegant in saying the campaign finance system in america is insane. a patchwork of post-watergate reforms that largely worked for a certain. of time then were chipped away -- for a certain amount of time and then were chipped away right. it has left us a campaign finance system in which you have to spend too much money to raise

money and spend too much time doing it. each and every taxpayer employees may and pays my salary. at 530 five members of congress. i would rather the most conservative member, the most liberal member, i would rather they be working on legislation and policy and not have to work so much and spencer much time to raise money for office. that because not have public financing in elections, it is privately financed that is what has to happen. when i was referencing with the finance campaign system that makes no sense and is broken, we have right now a system in which the individual who is running for office is tapped in terms of how many contributions and how much he can receive from one entity. but then ran outside group can

spend millions and millions of dollars for a super-wealthy individual arrays to have-wealthy individual can write a check. that an early in the system is the worst of both worlds. it achieves absolutely nothing. i am very interested in believing in fundamental campaign reform. the only extent to which my up and has changed is i feel rather strongly. >> tell me about your family. when you go home, who would you go home to? how do you balance all of this with the home? mr. boyle: my wife and i have been married for 10 years. we have a beautiful, gorgeous daughter named abby. i also, my dad is still with us,

fortunately, i spend a lot of time with him. he lives in my district in philadelphia only 55 and 20 minutes only. i see him quite a bit. i have one sibling, who is also an optics and a state legislator and he was an enormous help in my camp. we camped and everything would they together. i joked when former congressman margolis was making a lot of attention to the fact that president clinton was supporting her, i liked to say i had the most important elected official in my district something me and that was actually my brother who is quite popular in his district. >> a member of congress versus secretary of state, is one more satisfying? mr. boyle: they are both more similar than dissimilar. key differences are the realm of foreign affairs, which does not

exist at the state level. sometimes you have a border dispute with maryland or new jersey, at basically would've been ok. the foreign affairs, there is no analogy at the state level. while i love being a state legislator and loved getting there, the sort of gas pump moments that happen here are hard to -- goose moments are hard to compete with when there is an a dress at congress or a meeting at the white house. i had in an important meeting at the white house last week on a very impotent issue. those sorts of things -- i had a very important meeting last week on a very important issue. i was appointed to the affairs -- brown affairs committee and received eight briefing on isis

and iraq and syria. after two hours, while there was nothing in and of itself surprising i learned, just debate and gravity does hit you in a really at this level that is unlike anything else i have done. >> you have mentioned foreign affairs a couple of times stop putting keep up on foreign issues? have you tried to lead in the area of foreign affairs? mr. burrow: traveling is what i would like to do more. i went to dubai, i will be going to the middle east again shortly, in about a week from now. that is important. fortunately, it is something i have always been interested in. a voracious reader. very interested in international politics, not just a mastic but following the domestic politics of other countries in addition

to domestic relations. i am doing something i really love so does not seem like as much more the covers is what i tend to do in my spare time anyway. ask more of that practical life on the hill. the schedule can get complicated . whether it is bills in the amendments. things getting added with john. how do you keep up with what you're supposed to be voting on and how you are supposed be voting on it? mr. boyle: that is a big challenge. sometimes a curve ball is thrown. i am attempting to rush back to my office and suddenly a vote is called. those are real challenges. the first friday night that we were in very late at night unexpectedly because the bill to defend homeland security ended up being defeated on the house floor. famous last words come about 15

mins before, i called my wife and told her i would be on the road and about half an hour and will be able to see abby before she was put to bed. i called back about half an hour later and said, are you watching c-span? our plan has changed. that is a challenge. it was a challenge in the state legislature, though. what they flew a lot, cast a lot of votes. even though i am young, i am experience now, six years in the state house in my first year here, i am fairly used to it, but it can be -- it is one of the unfortunate aspects of the job. especially if we end up in session a daily unexpected, because it already plantings in the district, then you have to call up and explain why you're not going to be there to constituents. for some folks, they know it is an aspect of the job but they are interested in seeing you back in the district. i know that was the case as a state legislator. i have always tried to keep that

hands-on approach. it is something i feel strongly about. when it comes to 310 million people in a world of thousands of tv channels and billions of websites it is easy for people to feel disconnected from their democracy. it is easy for people to feel, well, i do not matter. my prose is not heard. i know that i'm showing up in a school, for an event, speaking to a group their im is the public face of the people's government. that is the way democracy should work. i think when people come into the office commonly with me, talk to me, they want to feel better about the government in terms of being heard. i know every single call we get in this office, i know what the person is calling about. that is important. i cannot stress that enough.

it is not just because it is the building today. i think you will see people believe in democracy more and believe their government can tackle the problems when i am there and listening. ask a couple last questions. is there one thing in this office you want to point to that has special value? mr. boyle: as you can see, i have a sparsely decorated office six or seven months and. certainly, my two girls from notre dame and harvard i was a di-hard notre dame fan before i even stepped on campus. that is a picture i took. that is a town in ireland where my dad grew up. had i been smart enough to extend the camera a little bit further to the right, you would also get the small house my dad grew up in. then of course, all of the family photos. i really love the picture of

vice president biden picking up my daughter. and a picture of my brother and my dad and me in the white house. some pretty special events. even now, as i am looking over your shoulder, my mom and my dad. i do feel while it is not exactly the nicest office decorations, as i am made fun of by some of my classmates who came in and the freshman class together, they have a lot more on the wall. that the things i do have say a lot about who i am and what i value. ask how long would you like to serve in the house i do have aspirations me on the house? mr. burrow: i am going to say something that is probably quite impossible. i know it is impossible to criticize and bash politics it self, the political system that has been going on since the generation of our founding

fathers, but i believe in public service. when i made the transition early on from doing something in the two wanting to study policy, if we're looking at a budget that is literally trillions of dollars and the decisions of war and peace, people can come to that through many walks of life. as is, law farming, media. whatever the case maybe. these cases are intricate. i see the value of the foreign affairs committee when i turned to a ranking member dealing with a complicated statutory issue in terms of the treaty would have, there is a real value and having people who study this and know what they are talking about. i take it seriously. so, i believe in some way or another, does not necessarily have to be congress, but i do want to be in the public arena and public service my entire life. i think it is a noble profession even though some folks in